Page 44 of Master B-1901
“She’s hurting everyone she can, and she’s getting away with it.”
“Mistress Two won’t be able to by the time I’m finished. I only have one chance to nail her ass to the wall,or it’s me who will pay. I said stay out of it, and you both will.”
“And if we don’t?”
The Main Master’s head whipped to me.
“You’re speaking of treason.”
“She committed it first. After what she’s done, what’s one more blackout? One more mental fucking break that ends this for good?”
“Enough,” Elec hissed.
He glanced around the room, balling his fists.
“There is a time and a place for everything. Now is neither. Stick to your schedule. Keep your head down.Do nothing.” His intense eyes went back and forth between us. “Things are going to get worse before they get better. It’s a battle out there.Melissa is a war.”
One of my eyebrows rose. “If anyone knows about war, it’s me. We’ll buy our time, but I will not let this go. Melissawillpay.
“Trust me, I’m with you,” Elec said, lowering his voice, “but you have to let me take the lead in this, otherwise, you’re done, Brad. You’ll spend your days in Hell Row or dead, and I promise you, you don’t want that.”
“What I want is to stop—I want my fucking mind back. Is it all a lie? The military, prison, is it a fucking lie? I mean, I swear, it happened.Look at me.”
The Main Master’s shoulders dropped and drew in.
“I have to admit, I really began to believe it too. Brad.” He paused. “I don’t believe it was real. Until right before the Gardens opened, you were running your family’s businesses. You were on the boards. I talked with Georgie. She saw you last year in Chicago. You both went to lunch together. Once you came here, it would seem you really haven’t left.”
I pushed to my feet, feeling sick. Feeling panicked.
‘Wait. Just…wait. Ihavebeen here. If that’s my responsibility, who the fuck is running the companies?”
Silence.
“Elec, answer me.I know you know.”
“Your board, for now, but I’ve been looking more into it and…you know a lot of the younger generations intern in our circle. They take different positions to learn different aspects of the industry. It’s nothing more than a week or two, here. An occasional weekend, there.”
“Yeah, so? What are you saying?”
Fingers interlaced but quickly separated as the Main Master stood and began to pace.
“It would seem Jett has spent the last few months?—”
“Whoa! Stop.Her son?Jett LaRoe?”
His hand rose as I stood.
“Calm, Brad.”
“She really is after what’s mine. She—” My fingers fisted in my hair. “She wasn’t lying.How is this okay, Elec!”
“It’s bad, but Jett is the least of your concerns. He’s in trouble. He won’t be leaving the Gardens any time soon, if at all. Right now, we’re putting together the pieces. We need evidence. We need?—”
“To take this up to who matters.The evidence is there. We take it to the Uppers. We go to them so we can lay out our case.”
“I already told you; she controls them. They may not even know, but her influence is unmistakable. Without refutable facts, she wins.”
“Then death.”